Many of you have heard the expression that it takes a village to raise a child.  This statement infers that it isn’t just the father and mother who have the greatest influence on their child but many other people also play a role in this child’s development.  It could be one of this child’s teachers who influenced him to pursue the career he found so much meaning in as his life unfolded.  It could be an athletic coach.  It could be an uncle or a grandfather.  When  we think about our own lives there are many people who come to mind that have shaped us and guided us and played a role in what we have ultimately become in our lives.

As I continue to recover from the blood clot that almost took my life I have been thinking a lot lately about all the people who have played a role in my recovery and have seen once again it takes a village to help a person recover their strength.  The para medics who got me to Froedtert ER were part of that village.  The doctors in ER and then all the specialists who could focus on my heart and my lungs and my blood were a part of that village.  The therapists and the staff in the nursing home became another page in my story as i moved from the hospital village to the nursing home.  And now my village is the wound clinic and the nurses who visit me in my home.

As I got out of the nursing home and began to regain my strength at home I felt like I was on the ascent.  Each day I felt a little better and a little stronger.  The scabs and blisters on my leg seemed to be healing and resolving.  I thought it wouldn’t be long and I would be my old self again.  Then I had an appointment to  see the nurse in the wound clinic.  She commented about how the scabs and blisters were all healing nicely but then she rained on my parade.  She said, “There is this one scab that we have to open up.  I need to see what is underneath this scab.”  What was underneath that scab was a hematoma.  She had to removed this collection of blood.  There was some redness indicating some bacteria was active in the site.  The removal of the hematoma left a hole about the size of a baseball and was about a half an inch deep.  She told me this would take some time to heal and would require antibiotics and she also recommended we put a wound vac on it to speed the healing.  So I have now been on the wound vac for about a week.  Twenty-four seven I carry my trusty pump in a pouch with a strap which makes me look like one of those guys who carry a man purse.  I am doing my best to go with the flow and say this too shall pass.

And I am grateful for the wound care people.  Not everyone in the village brings good news and hands out candy.  Some of the people in the village have to be honest. Some have to inflict some pain.  Some have to show us that the path to healing is not always an ever upward spiral but rather a series of ups and downs.  But when the wound people treat me with compassion and explain what is happening and where we are heading I realize they are indeed part of the village my God is using to help me reach my destination.

Maybe that resonates with some of you who are dealing with health issues and other struggles in your life.  Like me you see it takes a village.  You need someone to listen to you.  You need someone to be honest with you.  You need someone to do the hard things without being hard and uncaring.  You need so many people  to do so many things you can’t help but realize we can never cope with life on our own.  I pray the people in your village are as helpful and caring as the folks in mine.